Marie Curie’s response to testing frontline staff for Coronavirus
Comment published
A spokesperson for Marie Curie said:
“Marie Curie is delivering frontline services through the Coronavirus crisis, currently supporting Covid-19 patients, and stepping forward to support the NHS even more fully in this national emergency. By doing so we are helping to support terminally ill people who would otherwise be in hospital at a time when every bit of available capacity is needed to care for people diagnosed with Covid-19.
“Yet, every day we have to battle to get the appropriate PPE to the right staff, and we are increasingly concerned that we will be overlooked by the NHS in England, as it gears up testing of frontline staff.
“We strongly believe that, unless our essential frontline nursing and hospice staff are treated on equal footing as our NHS colleagues, many thousands of terminally ill will be at risk of dying without the compassionate support they need and deserve at the end of their lives.
“Our hospices and community nursing services are needed now more than ever as part of the national Covid-19 response, yet the pedestrian pace of testing - and lack of appropriate PPE - is having a direct impact on our ability to continue to provide essential services and keep our doctors, nurse and hospice staff on the frontline.
“Marie Curie needs assurances that our staff will be tested like other essential frontline staff, so that the charity can continue to play its part, support the NHS, and serve the nation in the weeks and months ahead.”